The Orange High School Mock Trial Team completed an amazing journey this past weekend with Team Newton representing one of the top eight teams in Ohio out of more than 360 teams that began at District competition. OHS Mock Trial began the season with nine teams and nearly 70 students with each team being the name of a "Genius." Teams included: Cavendish, Copernicus, Curie, Darwin, Edison, Einstein, Galileo, Hawking, and Newton. Students had to defend a fictional case involving the competency of an attorney in a murder trial.
Because of their high scores, four OHS teams (Newton, Galileo, Einstein, and Curie) were invited to compete at the Regional Contest on February 16th. Orange High School advanced the most number of teams of any school in the District competition. After two of the top OHS teams were forced to play each other at the Regional Contest, three were advanced to the State competition including Newton, Einstein and Curie.
All three teams performed well at States, with Team Curie advancing to the final 9 (quarterfinals) and Team Newton advancing to the Elite Eight. Once again, OHS students were the recipients of numerous awards at the State Level including:
Best Attorney: Sadie Begam, Anna Brateanu (two awards), Sophie Egar, and Ethan Hsi
Best Witness: Sarah Kirsh, Emma Matousek, Joan Moore, Halle Morris, and Julian Perry
The 2018 case challenges students with interpreting tricky evidence, hunting for clues in individual recollections that have faded over the past 20 years and ultimately balancing the evidence of guilt against the blunders of an overworked attorney. The hearing focused on whether there is reasonable probability that the outcome of the case would have been different but for the ineffective trial counsel.
OHS Mock Trial teams are under the direction of advisors Dave Chordas, Mark Kimball, Megan Petronsky and Bobby Wright. With incredible assistance from Chuck Jarrett, Jeffrey Leikin, Jeff Saks, Jeff Ubersax, and others, the teams have been practicing together for the past four months. Sponsored by the Ohio Center for Law-Related Education, the Ohio Mock Trial program is now in its 35th year.
Congratulations again to all of our amazing OHS Mock Trial students and staff on a fantastic year!
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Published on 3/14/2018
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